Conventional power supplies may include one or more DC-to-DC converters to produce a respective output voltage to power a load. One type of DC-to-DC converter is a single-stage power converter system. As its name suggests, in the single-stage power converter system, each phase includes a single power converter to convert an input voltage such as 12 V DC (Volts Direct Current) into a respective target output voltage such as 1 volt DC to power a load.
One type of power converter is a buck converter. A so-called Constant ON Time (COT) switching buck regulator has a fixed ON-time and uses off-time Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) or frequency modulation to regulate an output voltage.
If desired, a conventional power converter can be configured to operate in a so-called diode emulation mode in which high side switch circuitry is occasionally pulse to an ON state to maintain regulation of an output voltage while corresponding low side switch circuitry is always disable (OFF). In general, to maintain an output voltage within a desired range, the buck converter compares the magnitude of a generated output voltage to control respective switch circuitry (such as a control switch and synchronous switch).